Skip to Main Content

Better Doctors, Better Patients, Better Decisions: Envisioning Health Care 2020

Online ISBN:
9780262298957
Print ISBN:
9780262016032
Publisher:
The MIT Press
Book

Better Doctors, Better Patients, Better Decisions: Envisioning Health Care 2020

Gerd Gigerenzer (ed.),
Gerd Gigerenzer
(ed.)
Max Planck Institute
Find on
J.A. Muir Gray (ed.)
J.A. Muir Gray
(ed.)
Find on
Published:
17 June 2011
Online ISBN:
9780262298957
Print ISBN:
9780262016032
Publisher:
The MIT Press

Abstract

Contrary to popular opinion, one of the main problems in providing uniformly excellent health care is not lack of money but lack of knowledge—on the part of both doctors and patients. The studies in this book show that many doctors and most patients do not understand the available medical evidence. Both patients and doctors are “risk illiterate”—frequently unable to tell the difference between actual risk and relative risk. Further, unwarranted disparity in treatment decisions is the rule rather than the exception in the United States and Europe. All of this contributes to much wasted spending in health care. The contributors investigate the roots of the problem, from the emphasis in medical research on technology and blockbuster drugs to the lack of education for both doctors and patients. They call for a new, more enlightened health care, with better medical education, journals that report study outcomes completely and transparently, and patients in control of their personal medical records, not afraid of statistics but able to use them to make informed decisions about their treatments.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close